Buddha, why are you always smiling? |
In the "Seven Ages of Man" (listed below) in Shakespeare’s hypnotic As You Like It, the later stages of life are portrayed as deeply depressing.
But happiness research shows a more nuanced picture, one that is changing over time.
Explore the 2024 report for the latest findings on the happiness of the world’s young, old – and everyone in between.
Shakespeare: All the world's a stage
The Seven Ages by William Shakespeare (Kanish Mahajan/slideshare.net) |
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Act II, Scene VII, Line 139 features one of [Edward De Vere's aka] Shakespeare's most famous monologues, spoken by the character Jaques, which begins:
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts"
The central metaphor, stated in vivid verbal sketches, is that a human lifespan is a play in seven acts. These seven "acts," or "ages," are:
At first, [1] the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms.
Then [2] the whining schoolboy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then [3] the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then [4] a soldier,
Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honor, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon's mouth. And then [5] the justice,
In fair round belly with good capon lined,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances;
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into [6] the lean and slippered pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side;
His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank, and his big manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is [7] second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything."
Read the Report
Chapter 1: Happiness and Age: SummaryFat, Happy Budai (Hotei) - Chapter 2: Happiness of the younger, the older, and those in between
- Chapter 3: Child and Adolescent Well-being: Global Trends, Challenges, and Opportunities
- Chapter 4: Supporting the Well-being of an Aging Global Population: Associations between Well-being and Dementia
- Chapter 5: Differences in Life Satisfaction among Older Adults in India
Home | The World Happiness Report; Ashley Wells, CC Liu, Shauna Schwartz (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
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